The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will reveal a plan to distribute $6.5 million to the Louisiana crawfish industry within two weeks, Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) announced on Friday.
Boustany was part of a Louisiana delegation that organized a meeting on Thursday between the CBP and representatives of Louisiana’s crawfish industry to discuss uncollected anti-dumping countervailing duties.
“I’m encouraged we have finally convinced this agency to abide by their statutory obligation,” Boustany said. “However, given past history, I will not be satisfied until I am sure this agency has followed through on its promise. I will continue to monitor this situation closely, and I won’t stop fighting for our Louisiana crawfish industry.”
The funds have been contested since the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in March that a pair of insurance companies owned the government approximately $6.5 million under the Byrd Amendment, which specifies use of anti-dumping and countervailing duty funds. In July, the CBP reported it intended to use most of the monies to pay off interest accrued on unpaid duties.
The Louisiana delegation has continually called for CBP to pay what is owed the crawfish industry.
“Louisiana’s crawfish industry is not only an important job creator, it’s a vital part of our cultural heritage,” Boustany said. “United States Customs and Border Protection has been hurting this vital industry by withholding duties that are rightfully owed to our crawfish processors. I have continually called on this agency to do right by the Louisiana crawfish industry and make the necessary payments to our processors.”